Method and apparatus for measuring biosignal

ABSTRACT

A biosignal measuring method and apparatus are provided. The biosignal measuring method includes verifying whether a measured biosignal is in a range, and controlling an operation of the biosignal measuring apparatus when the measured biosignal deviates from the range based on a result of the verifying.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a Divisional of U.S. application Ser. No.14/642,963, filed on Mar. 10, 2015, which claims the benefit under 35USC 119(a) of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2014-0115512, filed onSep. 1, 2014, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the entiredisclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference for allpurposes.

BACKGROUND 1. Field

The following description relates to an apparatus and a method formeasuring a biosignal.

2. Description of Related Art

Human being emotions may be measured or recognized by a device usingface or voice recognition. In addition to the recognition, research hasbeen conducted on a method of extracting an emotion based on abiosignal. For example, an emotion may be measured based on anelectrical conductance of skin. A general application of such electricalconductance may include a lie detector and a concentration measurer.

SUMMARY

This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in asimplified form that are further described below in the DetailedDescription. This Summary is not intended to identify key features oressential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended tobe used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subjectmatter.

In one general aspect, there is provided a biosignal measuring method,the method including measuring a biosignal of a user of a biosignalmeasuring apparatus, verifying whether the biosignal is in a referencerange, generating a biosignal adjustment event based on a result of theverification, and adjusting a setting of the biosignal measuringapparatus in response to the biosignal adjustment event.

When the biosignal deviates from the reference range, the adjusting ofthe setting may include controlling at least one of a temperature of acontact area between the user of the biosignal measuring apparatus and achange in grip between the user of the biosignal measuring apparatus andthe biosignal measuring apparatus.

When the biosignal is in a range less than the reference range, theadjusting of the setting may include performing at least one of anoperation of generating heat in a measurement area in which thebiosignal is measured and an operation of tightening the biosignalmeasuring apparatus to the user.

In another general aspect, there is provided a biosignal measuringmethod, the method including measuring a biosignal of a user of abiosignal measuring apparatus, generating a biosignal adjustment eventbased on whether the biosignal is in a threshold range, adjusting asetting of the biosignal measuring apparatus in response to thebiosignal adjustment event, and detecting whether the biosignal reachesa measurement range based on the adjusting.

When the biosignal is less than a first boundary value of the thresholdrange, the adjusting may include performing at least one of an operationof generating heat in a measurement area in which the biosignal ismeasured and an operation of tightening the biosignal measuringapparatus to the user of the biosignal measuring apparatus.

When the biosignal is greater than a second boundary value of thethreshold range, the adjusting of the setting may include performing atleast one of an operation of cooling the measurement area in which thebiosignal is measured and an operation of releasing a grip between thebiosignal measuring apparatus and the user of the biosignal measuringapparatus.

In still another general aspect, there is provided a biosignal measuringapparatus including a measurer configured to measure a biosignal of auser of the biosignal measuring apparatus, and a controller configuredto verify whether the biosignal is in a reference range, generate abiosignal adjustment event based on a result of the verifying, andadjust a setting of the biosignal measuring apparatus in response to thebiosignal adjustment event.

When the biosignal is in a range greater than the reference range, thecontroller may control the biosignal measuring apparatus to perform atleast one of an operation of cooling the measurer and an operation ofreleasing a grip between the biosignal measuring apparatus and the userof the biosignal measuring apparatus.

The biosignal may be an electrical conductance of skin.

Other features and aspects will be apparent from the following detaileddescription, the drawings, and the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a biosignal measuringmethod.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating another example of a biosignalmeasuring method.

FIG. 3 is a graph illustrating an example of a change in a biosignal.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a biosignal measuringapparatus.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a wearable biosignalmeasuring apparatus.

FIGS. 6A and 6B are diagrams illustrating examples of a contact area ofa biosignal measuring apparatus.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a signal measured by abiosignal measuring apparatus.

Throughout the drawings and the detailed description, unless otherwisedescribed or provided, the same drawing reference numerals will beunderstood to refer to the same elements, features, and structures. Thedrawings may not be to scale, and the relative size, proportions, anddepiction of elements in the drawings may be exaggerated for clarity,illustration, and convenience.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following detailed description is provided to assist the reader ingaining a comprehensive understanding of the methods, apparatuses,and/or systems described herein. However, various changes,modifications, and equivalents of the systems, apparatuses and/ormethods described herein will be apparent to one of ordinary skill inthe art. Also, descriptions of functions and constructions that are wellknown to one of ordinary skill in the art may be omitted for increasedclarity and conciseness.

Throughout the drawings and the detailed description, the same referencenumerals refer to the same elements. The drawings may not be to scale,and the relative size, proportions, and depiction of elements in thedrawings may be exaggerated for clarity, illustration, and convenience.

The features described herein may be embodied in different forms, andare not to be construed as being limited to the examples describedherein. Rather, the examples described herein have been provided so thatthis disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will convey the fullscope of the disclosure to one of ordinary skill in the art.

Example embodiments will now be described more fully with reference tothe accompanying drawings in which example embodiments are shown.Example embodiments, may, however, be embodied in many different formsand should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments setforth herein; rather, these example embodiments are provided so thatthis disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey thescope of example embodiments to those of ordinary skill in the art. Inthe drawings, the thicknesses of layers and areas are exaggerated forclarity. Like reference numerals in the drawings denote like elements,and thus their description may be omitted.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of exampleembodiments. As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an” and “the” areintended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearlyindicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms“comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification,specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations,elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence oraddition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations,elements, components, and/or groups thereof. Expressions such as “atleast one of,” when preceding a list of elements, modify the entire listof elements and do not modify the individual elements of the list.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientificterms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by oneof ordinary skill in the art to which example embodiments belong. Itwill be further understood that terms, such as those defined incommonly-used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaningthat is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant artand will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal senseunless expressly so defined herein.

FIG. 1 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a biosignal measuringmethod. The biosignal measuring method to be described hereinafter withreference to FIG. 1 may be performed by a biosignal measuring apparatus.

Referring to FIG. 1, at operation 110, the biosignal measuring apparatusmeasures a biosignal of a user. For example, the biosignal measuringapparatus may measure an electrical conductance of skin, hereinafterreferred to as skin conductance, of the user. The skin conductance maybe obtained based on a resistance or an impedance between two points ofskin. A nervous system of a human being may be divided into a centralnervous system and an automatic nervous system. The automatic nervoussystem may be activated irrespective of a human intention. Whensympathetic nerves in the automatic nervous system are activated,perspiration may occur in a portion of a body. Sweat glands responsiveto the sympathetic nerves may be distributed mainly in a forehead, afinger, a palm of a hand, and a sole of a foot. Thus, measuring a skinconductance of the finger, the palm, or the sole may facilitate anobservation of a response of automatic nerves.

The biosignal measuring apparatus may include electrodes to be incontact with the skin of the user to measure such a skin conductance.When a direct current (DC) power supply is used, the biosignal measuringapparatus may measure a resistance among the electrodes. Alternatively,when an alternating current (AC) power supply is used, the biosignalmeasuring apparatus may measure an impedance among the electrodes.

At operation 120, the biosignal measuring apparatus verifies whether themeasured biosignal is in a reference range. The reference range may varydepending on a user. For example, the reference range may extend from100 kilo-ohms (ku) to 1 mega-ohm (Me). However, the reference rangedescribed in the foregoing is provided only as an illustrative exampleand thus, the reference range may not be limited thereto. The biosignalof the user may be measured in a range exceeding the reference range orless than the reference range.

At operation 130, when the measured biosignal is not in the referencerange, the biosignal measuring apparatus generates a biosignaladjustment event. The biosignal adjustment event may be used to controlthe biosignal measuring apparatus to allow a physical stimulus to beapplied to the user. The biosignal adjustment event may be a controlsignal used for the biosignal measuring apparatus to generate heat.Alternatively, the biosignal adjustment event may be a control signalused for the biosignal measuring apparatus to be closely attached to theuser.

At operation 140, the biosignal measuring apparatus adjusts a setting ofthe biosignal measuring apparatus in response to the biosignaladjustment event.

At operation 140, when the biosignal is not in the reference range, thebiosignal measuring apparatus controls a temperature of a contact areaof the biosignal measuring apparatus. The contact area may refer to anarea in which the biosignal measuring apparatus is in contact with theuser.

For example, when a measured skin conductance is less than the referencerange, the biosignal measuring apparatus may generate heat in thecontact area. The biosignal measuring apparatus may adjust a heatgeneration setting. In addition, the biosignal measuring apparatus mayincrease the temperature of the contact area. The biosignal measuringapparatus may adjust a temperature setting. In response to the heatgenerated in the contact area, sweat may be generated on the skin of theuser being in contact with the contact area. Accordingly, the skinconductance of the user may increase due to the production of sweat andthus, the skin conductance may be included in the reference range.

For another example, when a measured skin conductance is greater thanthe reference range, the biosignal measuring apparatus may cool thecontact area. The biosignal measuring apparatus may decrease thetemperature of the contact area. When the contact area is cooled, theskin of the user being in contact with the contact area may no longerproduce sweat. Accordingly, the skin conductance of the user maydecrease due to the lack of production of sweat and thus, the skinconductance may be included in the reference range.

At operation 140, when the biosignal is not in the reference range, thebiosignal measuring apparatus may change a grip between the contact areaof the biosignal measuring apparatus and the skin of the user.

For example, when a measured skin conductance is less than the referencerange, the biosignal measuring apparatus may release a grip between thecontact area and the skin of the user. The biosignal measuring apparatusmay tighten the biosignal measuring apparatus to the user. For anotherexample, when a measured skin conductance is greater than the referencerange, the biosignal measuring apparatus may release a grip between thebiosignal measuring apparatus and the skin of the user. The biosignalmeasuring apparatus may increase a distance between the contact area ofthe biosignal measuring apparatus and the skin of the user of thebiosignal measuring apparatus by releasing a grip between the biosignalmeasuring apparatus and the user of the biosignal measuring apparatus.When the degree of contact is reduced, that is, when the grip isreleased, a space between the contact area and the skin of the user maybe expanded. When the space is widened, more ventilation may occur andthus, the skin conductance of the user may decrease.

In an example, the biosignal measuring apparatus may include a cuff, anda grip between the biosignal measuring apparatus and the user using thecuff may be adjusted. For example, the biosignal measuring apparatus maytighten the biosignal measuring apparatus to the skin of the user byapplying pressure to the cuff.

The biosignal measuring apparatus may simultaneously control thetemperature of the contact area and the grip between the biosignalmeasuring apparatus and the skin of the user.

In addition to the temperature of the contact area, the biosignalmeasuring apparatus may also control a temperature of a measurement areain which the biosignal is measured. For example, the measurement areamay be an electrode that measures the biosignal. In the biosignalmeasuring apparatus, the contact area and the measurement area may bedivided. The contact area may refer to an area in which the biosignalmeasuring apparatus and the skin of the user are in contact. Themeasurement area may refer to an area in which the biosignal is measuredusing the electrode. A control applied to the contact area may affectthe skin of the user in contact with the measurement area. When a directcontrol is applied to the measurement area, the biosignal measuringapparatus may effectively operate to allow the measured biosignal to beincluded in the reference range.

When the measured biosignal is less than the reference range, thebiosignal measuring apparatus may generate heat in the measurement area.In addition, when the measured biosignal is less than the referencerange, the biosignal measuring apparatus may tighten the biosignalmeasuring apparatus to the user. For example, the biosignal measuringapparatus may include the cuff, and thus tighten the biosignal measuringapparatus to the user using the cuff. The biosignal measuring apparatusmay generate the heat or tighten the biosignal measuring apparatus tothe user to allow the biosignal to be included in the reference range.

Conversely, when the measured biosignal is greater than the referencerange, the biosignal measuring apparatus may cool the measurement area.In addition, when the measured biosignal is greater than the referencerange, the biosignal measuring apparatus may release a grip between thebiosignal measuring apparatus and the user. The biosignal measuringapparatus may cool the measurement area or release the grip to allow thebiosignal to be included in the reference range.

In an example, when the setting of the biosignal measuring apparatus isadjusted, the biosignal measuring apparatus may verify whether thebiosignal is in the reference range. The biosignal may be changed basedon the adjusting of the setting of the biosignal measuring apparatus.The biosignal measuring apparatus may determine whether to terminate theadjusting of the setting. When the biosignal reaches the referencerange, the biosignal measuring apparatus may terminate the adjusting ofthe setting. However, when the biosignal is still out of the referencerange, the biosignal measuring apparatus may adjust the setting. Thebiosignal measuring apparatus may adjust the setting until the biosignalreaches the reference range.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating another example of a biosignalmeasuring method. The biosignal measuring method to be describedhereinafter with reference to FIG. 2 may be performed by a biosignalmeasuring apparatus.

Referring to FIG. 2, at operation 210, the biosignal measuring apparatusmeasures a biosignal of a user. For example, the biosignal measuringapparatus may measure a skin conductance of the user using an electrode.

At operation 220, the biosignal measuring apparatus generates abiosignal adjustment event based on whether the biosignal is in athreshold range. The biosignal measuring apparatus may preset thethreshold range and a measurement range. The threshold range may referto a range associated with generation of the biosignal adjustment event.When the biosignal is out of the threshold range, the biosignalmeasuring apparatus may generate the biosignal adjustment event. Themeasurement range may refer to a measurable range of a biosignal. Whenthe biosignal is out of the threshold range, the biosignal measuringapparatus may operate to allow the biosignal to be included in themeasurement range.

At operation 230, the biosignal measuring apparatus adjusts a setting ofthe biosignal measuring apparatus in response to the biosignaladjustment event.

In an example, when the biosignal is less than a first boundary value ofthe threshold range, the biosignal measuring apparatus may adjust thesetting to generate heat in a measurement area in which the biosignal isto be measured. When the threshold range includes “A” and “B,” and thebiosignal is less than A, the biosignal measuring apparatus may generateheat in the measurement area to allow the biosignal to be greater thanor equal to A. Here, the threshold range may be from A to B.Alternatively, when the biosignal is less than the first boundary valueof the threshold range, the biosignal measuring apparatus may adjust thesetting to allow the tightening of the biosignal measuring apparatus tothe user.

In another example, when the biosignal is greater than a second boundaryvalue of the threshold range, the biosignal measuring apparatus mayadjust the setting to allow the measurement area to be cooled. When thethreshold range includes “A” and “B,” and the biosignal is greater thanB, the biosignal measuring apparatus may cool the measurement area toallow the biosignal to be less than or equal to B. Alternatively, whenthe biosignal is greater than the second boundary value, the biosignalmeasuring apparatus may adjust the setting to reduce a grip between thebiosignal measuring apparatus and the user.

When the measured biosignal is out of the threshold range, the biosignalmeasuring apparatus may not readily observe a change in a biosignalresponsive to sympathetic nerves. For example, the biosignal measuringapparatus may measure a skin conductance and a change in the skinconductance based on sweat produced by an activity of the sympatheticnerves. The skin conductance may be changed by the sweat produced by theactivity of the sympathetic nerves. When skin of the user is wet beforethe sweat is produced by the activity of the sympathetic nerves, thechange in the skin conductance may be small despite the production ofthe sweat by the activity of the sympathetic nerves. When the change inthe skin conductance is small, detecting the change in the skinconductance may not be readily accomplished. In addition, when the skinof the user is dry, detecting the change in the skin conductance may notbe easy despite the production of the sweat by the activity of thesympathetic nerves.

Thus, when the biosignal is maintained at a certain level, the biosignalmeasuring apparatus may sensitively detect a response of the sympatheticnerves.

At operation 240, the biosignal measuring apparatus detects whether thebiosignal reaches the measurement range based on the adjusting of thesetting. As described in the foregoing, the biosignal measuringapparatus may preset the measurement range. The measurement range maycorrespond to a measurable range of a biosignal. When the biosignal isin the measurement range, the biosignal measuring apparatus may detect asmall change in the biosignal. The biosignal measuring apparatus maydetect the response of the sympathetic nerves by allowing the biosignalto reach the measurement range. The biosignal in the measurement rangemay be valid data to be used as a subject of an analysis.

In an example, when a skin conductance of the user is less than thefirst boundary value of the threshold range, the biosignal measuringapparatus may generate heat to increase the biosignal. Alternatively,the biosignal measuring apparatus may increase a grip to the user. Thebiosignal measuring apparatus may detect whether the biosignal isgreater than a first boundary value of the measurement range based on anoperation of generating the heat or an operation of closely attachingthe biosignal measuring apparatus to the user. When the measurementrange includes “a” and “b,” the biosignal measuring apparatus may detectwhether the biosignal is greater than “a” based on the operations. Thebiosignal measuring apparatus may continuously perform the operation ofgenerating the heat or the operation of closely attaching the biosignalmeasuring apparatus to the user until the biosignal exceeds “a.” Thus,the biosignal measuring apparatus may continuously generate an amount ofheat until the biosignal exceeds “a.”

Here, the first boundary value of the measurement range may be equal tothe first boundary value of the threshold range. Alternatively, thefirst boundary value of the measurement range may be greater than thefirst boundary value of the threshold range. When the biosignal exceedsthe first boundary value of the measurement range, the biosignalmeasuring apparatus may terminate the operation of generating the heator the operation of tightening the biosignal measuring apparatus to theuser.

In another example, when a skin conductance of the user is greater thanthe second boundary value of the threshold range, the biosignalmeasuring apparatus may cool the biosignal measuring apparatus todecrease the biosignal or release a grip between the biosignal measuringapparatus and the user. The biosignal measuring apparatus may detectwhether the biosignal is less than or equal to a second boundary valueof the measurement range based on an operation of cooling or anoperation of releasing the grip between the biosignal measuringapparatus and the user. When the measurement range includes “a” and “b,”the biosignal measuring apparatus may detect whether the biosignal isless than or equal to “b” based on the operations. The biosignalmeasuring apparatus may continuously perform the operation of cooling orthe operation of releasing the grip until the biosignal becomes lessthan or equal to “b.” Thus, the biosignal measuring apparatus may loosenthe grip between the biosignal measuring apparatus and the user untilthe biosignal becomes less than or equal to “b.”

Here, the second boundary value of the measurement range may be equal tothe second boundary value of the threshold range. Alternatively, thesecond boundary value of the measurement range may be less than thesecond boundary value of the threshold range. When the biosignal is lessthan the second boundary value of the measurement range, the biosignalmeasuring apparatus may terminate the cooling operation or the operationof releasing the grip between the measuring apparatus and the user ofthe apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a graph illustrating an example of a change in a biosignal.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a change in a skin conductance of auser. The skin conductance illustrated in FIG. 3 may be used only as anillustrative example and thus, a biosignal may not be limited to theskin conductance.

Referring to FIG. 3, the threshold range described with reference toFIG. 2 includes from “MIN 2” to “MAX 2.” Also, the measurement rangedescribed with reference to FIG. 2 includes from “MIN 1” to “MAX 1.” Forease of description, the threshold range and the measurement range aredistinguishably illustrated in FIG. 3. In an example, the thresholdrange and the measurement range may be equal to each other. In addition,MIN 2 of the threshold range may be equal to MIN 1 of the measurementrange, and MAX 2 of the threshold range may be equal to MAX 1 of themeasurement range.

Referring to FIG. 3, at an initial stage, the skin conductance of theuser continuously increases to exceed MAX 2. When the skin conductanceexceeds MAX 2, a biosignal measuring apparatus may perform a “coolingon” operation. For example, the cooling on operation may include coolingthe biosignal measuring apparatus. In addition, the cooling on operationmay include releasing a grip between the biosignal measuring apparatusand the user of the apparatus for ventilation and generating wind. Whenthe skin conductance exceeds MAX 2, which is a first boundary value ofthe threshold range, the biosignal measuring apparatus may perform anoperation to decrease the skin conductance.

As time elapses, the skin conductance may decrease by the cooling onoperation. The biosignal measuring apparatus may monitor the skinconductance. When the skin conductance becomes less than or equal to MAX1, the biosignal measuring apparatus may terminate the coolingoperation, which corresponds to a “cooling off” operation.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, the skin conductance may then be in themeasurement range. The skin conductance may be maintained at a certainlevel within the measurement range. The skin conductance may sensitivelydetect a response of sympathetic nerves. The biosignal measuringapparatus may accurately detect a change in the skin conductance basedon an activity of the sympathetic nerves.

For example, skin of the user may be dry, and the skin conductance ofthe user may be in a range less than the threshold range. The biosignalmeasuring apparatus may detect whether the skin conductance is less thanMIN 2. When the skin conductance is less than MIN 2, the biosignalmeasuring apparatus may perform a “heating on” operation. For example,the heating on operation may include generating heat by the biosignalmeasuring apparatus. The biosignal measuring apparatus may increase atemperature of an electrode and generate the heat. In addition, theheating on operation may include tightening the biosignal measuringapparatus to the user. When the skin conductance is less than MIN 2,which is a second boundary value of the threshold range, the biosignalmeasuring apparatus may perform on operation to increase the skinconductance.

As time elapses, the skin conductance may increase by the heating onoperation. The biosignal measuring apparatus may monitor the skinconductance. When the skin conductance becomes less than and equal toMIN 1, the biosignal measuring apparatus may terminate the heating onoperation, which corresponds to a “heating off” operation.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a biosignal measuringapparatus.

Referring to FIG. 4, the biosignal measuring apparatus 400 includes ameasurer 410 and a controller 420.

The measurer 410 measures a biosignal of a user of the measuringapparatus 400. For example, the measurer 410 may measure a skinconductance of the user of the measuring apparatus 400. The measurer 410includes an electrode to be in contact with the skin of the user of themeasuring apparatus 400. The measurer 410 electrically connects thebiosignal measuring apparatus 400 to the user. Due to the electricalconnection, a closed loop may be formed between the biosignal measuringapparatus 400 and the user. The skin conductance to be measured by themeasurer 410 is provided only as an illustrative example and thus, thebiosignal to be measured by the measurer 410 may not be limited to theskin conductance.

The controller 420 verifies whether the measured biosignal is in areference range. When the measured biosignal is not in the referencerange, the controller 420 generates a biosignal adjustment event. Thebiosignal adjustment event may be used to control the biosignalmeasuring apparatus 400 to allow a physical stimulus to be applied tothe user. The biosignal adjustment event may be a control signal toallow the biosignal measuring apparatus 400 to generate heat.Alternatively, the biosignal adjustment event may be a signal to controlthe biosignal measuring apparatus 400 to tighten around the user of thebiosignal measuring apparatus 400.

The controller 420 adjusts a setting of the biosignal measuringapparatus 400 in response to the biosignal adjustment event. Forexample, when the biosignal is not in the reference range, thecontroller 420 may control a temperature of a contact area between thebiosignal measuring apparatus 400 and the user of the measuringapparatus 400. When the biosignal is in a range less than the referencerange, the controller 420 may adjust a temperature setting of thecontact area so as to increase the temperature of the contact areabetween the measuring apparatus 400 and the user of the measuringapparatus 400. The controller 420 may generate a control command toallow the contact area to generate heat. In addition, the controller 420may control a change in a grip between the biosignal measuring apparatus400 and the user of the biosignal measuring apparatus 400. When thebiosignal is not in the reference range, the controller 420 may controlthe biosignal measuring apparatus 400 to tighten around the user of thebiosignal measuring apparatus 400.

In an example, when the biosignal is in the range less than thereference range, the controller 420 may control the measurer 410. Whenthe biosignal is in the range less than the reference range, thecontroller 420 may control the measurer 410 to generate heat in themeasurer 410. In addition, when the biosignal is in the range less thanthe reference range, the controller 420 may control the biosignalmeasuring apparatus 400 to tighten around the user of the measuringapparatus 400. When heat is generated in an area in which the biosignalis to be measured or in an area in which the biosignal measuringapparatus 400 is in contact with the user of the measuring apparatus400, the skin of the user of the measuring apparatus 400 may producesweat. Thus, the skin conductance may increase due to the production ofsweat.

In another example, when the biosignal is in a range greater than thereference range, the controller 420 may control the measurer 410. Whenthe biosignal is in the range greater than the reference range, thecontroller 420 may cool the measurer 410. In addition, when thebiosignal is in the range greater than the reference range, thecontroller 420 may control a grip between the biosignal measuringapparatus 400 and the user to be reduced. The controller 420 may controlthe biosignal measuring apparatus 400 to perform an operation ofreleasing the grip between the biosignal measuring apparatus 400 and theuser of the measuring apparatus 400. When the grip is released, a spacebetween the biosignal measuring apparatus 400 and the skin of the usermay be expanded. When the space is expanded, air may circulate betweenthe measuring apparatus 400 and the user of the measuring apparatus 400and wet skin may be dried thus decreasing skin conductance.

The controller 420 verifies whether the biosignal is in the referencerange based on the adjusting of the setting of the biosignal measuringapparatus 400. The controller 420 adjusts the setting of the measuringapparatus 400 until the biosignal reaches the reference range. When thebiosignal reaches the reference range, the controller 420 may terminatethe adjusting of the setting.

Descriptions provided with reference to FIGS. 1 through 3 may beapplicable hereto and thus, repeated description will be omitted herefor brevity.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a wearable biosignalmeasuring apparatus.

Referring to FIG. 5, a user wears a wearable device 510. The wearabledevice 510 may measure a biosignal of the user. For example, thewearable device 510 may measure skin conductance, a degree of skinhydration, or a degree of skin dryness. In addition, the wearable device510 may measure blood pressure of the user.

The wearable device 510 may include a transmitter. The wearable device510 may transmit the measured biosignal to a user terminal through thetransmitter. For example, the device 510 may transmit the biosignalthrough a Bluetooth device or a near field communication (NFC) module.The wearable device 510 may encode the measured biosignal and transmitthe encoded biosignal to the user terminal. The wearable device 510 mayform a wireless body area network (WBAN) in conjunction with the userterminal.

The wearable device 510 may include a display (not shown). The wearabledevice 510 may output the measured biosignal to the display. The usermay then verify the biosignal output on the display. For example, when ameasured skin conductance is less than a predetermined value, thewearable device 510 may generate heat in an area in which the wearabledevice 510 is in contact with the skin of the user or in an electrode ofthe wearable device 510. The skin of the user may then produce sweat inresponse to the generation of the heat and thus, the skin conductancemay increase due to the production of the sweat. The user may verify achange in the skin conductance output on the display.

FIGS. 6A and 6B are diagrams illustrating examples of a contact area ofa biosignal measuring apparatus.

Referring to FIG. 6A, a contact area 610 includes a hot wire 611 andelectrodes, for example, 612 and 613. The contact area 610 may be anarea in which the biosignal measuring apparatus is in contact with theskin of a user of the biosignal measuring apparatus. The electrodes 612and 613 may measure a biosignal of the user. For example, the electrodes612 and 613 may measure a skin conductance of the user. The electrodes612 and 613 may be a measurement area in which the biosignal of the useris to be measured.

The contact area 610 may generate heat through the hot wire 611. Theskin of the user in contact with the contact area 610 may produce sweatin response to the heat generated by the hot wire 611. Thus, the skinconductance of the user of the biosignal measuring apparatus mayincrease due to the production of sweat.

Referring to FIG. 6B, a contact area 620 includes electrodes, forexample, 621 and 622. Although not illustrated in FIG. 6B, theelectrodes 621 and 622 may include a hot wire. The electrodes 621 and622 may generate heat through the hot wire. In a case of the contactarea 610, illustrated in FIG. 6A, the heat may be generated in allareas. However, in a case of the contact area 620, illustrated in FIG.6B, the heat may be generated in a measurement area in which thebiosignal of the user is to be measured.

Although a contact area and a measurement area are distinguishablyillustrated in FIGS. 6A and 6B, the contact area and the measurementarea may be identical.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a signal measured by abiosignal measuring apparatus.

Referring to FIG. 7, a raw signal measured by the biosignal measuringapparatus is also referred to as a “tonic.” A skin conductanceillustrated in a first graph indicates the tonic. A y axis of the firstgraph indicates a resistance, which is an inverse of a galvanic skinresponse (GSR). At a point, sweat may be produced by a response ofsympathetic nerves. Referring to the first graph, the resistancedecreases at each point in time at which the sweat is produced.

When the biosignal measuring apparatus filters the tonic using ahigh-pass filter (HPF), the biosignal measuring apparatus may extract a“phasic” from the tonic. The tonic may be a low-frequency component of askin conductance, and the phasic may be a high-frequency component ofthe skin conductance. The biosignal measuring apparatus may extract apoint in time at which the skin conductance is suddenly changed based onthe phasic.

In an example, when the tonic deviates from a predetermined range, thebiosignal measuring apparatus may perform a predetermined operation toallow the tonic to enter the predetermined range. To analyze a smallchange in the tonic in the predetermined range, the biosignal measuringapparatus may filter the tonic. The biosignal measuring apparatus mayobtain the phasic from the tonic as a result of the filtering. Thebiosignal measuring apparatus may then verify the point in time at whichthe skin conductance is suddenly changed based on the phasic.

The units described herein may be implemented using hardware componentsand software components. For example, the hardware components mayinclude microphones, amplifiers, band-pass filters, audio to digitalconvertors, and processing devices. A processing device may beimplemented using one or more general-purpose or special purposecomputers, such as, for example, a processor, a controller and anarithmetic logic unit, a digital signal processor, a microcomputer, afield programmable array, a programmable logic unit, a microprocessor orany other device capable of responding to and executing instructions ina defined manner. The processing device may run an operating system (OS)and one or more software applications that run on the OS. The processingdevice also may access, store, manipulate, process, and create data inresponse to execution of the software. For purpose of simplicity, thedescription of a processing device is used as singular; however, oneskilled in the art will appreciated that a processing device may includemultiple processing elements and multiple types of processing elements.For example, a processing device may include multiple processors or aprocessor and a controller. In addition, different processingconfigurations are possible, such a parallel processors.

The software may include a computer program, a piece of code, aninstruction, or some combination thereof, to independently orcollectively instruct or configure the processing device to operate asdesired. Software and data may be embodied permanently or temporarily inany type of machine, component, physical or virtual equipment, computerstorage medium or device, or in a propagated signal wave capable ofproviding instructions or data to or being interpreted by the processingdevice. The software also may be distributed over network coupledcomputer systems so that the software is stored and executed in adistributed fashion. The software and data may be stored by one or morenon-transitory computer readable recording mediums. The non-transitorycomputer readable recording medium may include any data storage devicethat can store data which can be thereafter read by a computer system orprocessing device. Examples of the non-transitory computer readablerecording medium include read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory(RAM), CD-ROMs, magnetic tapes, floppy disks, optical data storagedevices, etc. Also, functional programs, codes, and code segments thataccomplish the examples disclosed herein can be easily construed byprogrammers skilled in the art to which the examples pertain based onand using the flow diagrams and block diagrams of the figures and theircorresponding descriptions as provided herein.

While this disclosure includes specific examples, it will be apparent toone of ordinary skill in the art that various changes in form anddetails may be made in these examples without departing from the spiritand scope of the claims and their equivalents. The examples describedherein are to be considered in a descriptive sense only, and not forpurposes of limitation. Descriptions of features or aspects in eachexample are to be considered as being applicable to similar features oraspects in other examples. Suitable results may be achieved if thedescribed techniques are performed in a different order, and/or ifcomponents in a described system, architecture, device, or circuit arecombined in a different manner and/or replaced or supplemented by othercomponents or their equivalents. Therefore, the scope of the disclosureis defined not by the detailed description, but by the claims and theirequivalents, and all variations within the scope of the claims and theirequivalents are to be construed as being included in the disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. A biosignal measuring apparatus, comprising: aprocessor configured to measure a biosignal of a user of the biosignalmeasuring apparatus, verify whether the biosignal is in a referencerange, and control at least one of a temperature of a contact arebetween the user and the biosignal measuring apparatus or a change ingrip between the user and the biosignal measuring apparatus based onwhether the biosignal deviates from the reference range.
 2. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein the contact area comprises hot wires andelectrodes.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the hot wires generateheat and the electrodes measure the biosignal of the user of theapparatus.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein, in response to thebiosignal being in a range less than the reference range, the processoris further configured to perform at least one of an operation ofgenerating heat in a measurement area in which the biosignal is measuredor an operation of tightening the biosignal measuring apparatus to theuser.
 5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein, in response to the biosignalbeing in a range greater than the reference range, the processor isfurther configured to perform at least one of an operation of cooling ameasurement area in which the biosignal is measured or an operation ofreleasing a grip between the biosignal measuring apparatus and the user.6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configuredto verify whether the biosignal is in the reference range based on theadjusting of the setting, and to terminate the adjusting of the settingbased on a result of the verifying.
 7. The apparatus of claim 1, furthercomprising a transmitter configured to transmit the measured biosignalto a user terminal.